Sakleshpur

This has been one of my most precious trips! Of course all trips are unique and special, but this one happened after almost 20 years of non planning 😛 It was a friends outing - a short and sweet trip!

We left Bangalore around 6.30 in the morning in one of my friend's new car. 

It was a beautiful drive, we took the Nice road to enter the national highway. We stopped for breakfast at Swathi restaurant where we had yummy dosa/idli/vada/coffee and continued our drive. 

The roads to Sakleshpur from Bangalore are very good, and after few quick stops on the way we reached our resort in Sakleshpur - Mookanana Resort by noon.

The rooms here were good, with a nice balcony and an upstairs space. One room could easily accommodate 4 people. 

We had lunch at the dining area, which was overlooking a man made lake. The food was good and after a while we headed back to our rooms. 

With non stop chatter it was soon time for our tea and snacks. After tea we went near the lake, strolled around for a while taking pictures and walked till the gate which was close to 1km. It was dark by the time we headed back to our room. 

During our brave night walk 😛 - Scorpion 

We sat in the room balcony till late in the night chatting and munching on starters and had dinner later on just before they closed the dining hall for the night.

View from the balcony

We were up early the next morning and went for a short walk before having tea with parleG :)

We had a leisurely heavy breakfast which tasted very good. We left the resort around 12 after checking out. 

The drive back was very scenic as we had to stop at Belur. We stopped for lunch at a small place before Belur. After a quick Belur stop we were back on the road. 

Belur temple from outside

We again stopped at the famous 'Swathi restaurant' for coffee and sandwiches 😁

We reached Bangalore around 8pm. 

This was an amazing trip and a rejuvenating one for me! Thanks S, N, V 😀

Attitude

Here is a no brainer: ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!    

Isn't it 200% true? 

There was a milestone birthday in the family and one of my cousins requested everyone to post a funny video to make the birthday special. The family includes different age groups, oldest person being close to 80. The enthusiasm with which each one contributed was amazing. Each one wishes the best for others in this group and each one always has so many positive things to share about everything and everyone. I have always felt that laughter, smile and enthusiasm are very contagious. 

I have to share one perfect example to prove my point about attitude. One of my aunts in the group who is close to 80 was unfortunately not well and was admitted to a hospital where she had to stay for few days. I have to mention here that she lives alone at home. She recovered and came home and had phone calls enquiring about her health. I can never forget what she told everyone about her hospital stay. She compared her hospital stay to a resort and so excitedly praised the hospital staff for their hospitality and was very happy that so many people took care of her so well at the hospital!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really do not know many people who can explain a hospital situation with a positive spin. Doesn't this show ATTITUDE?

We come across such people often in our lives and situations. We may not recognize it/them. 

Recently a very close friend of mine who has been going through few health issues since couple of years very coolly told me that it was not a big deal that she was going through this as it could have been worse. And I was really humbled by this attitude of hers.

This definitely does not mean we have to hide our feelings inside and not express them. I only feel that we can change our thinking. Changing from a "victim" state to a "normal" state during every situation. Let us accept few facts permanently - life is not fair - and how do we even begin to define fair? We have all the body parts intact - let us be happy and grateful JUST FOR THAT!

Do give it a thought - ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING - ATTITUDE CAN CHANGE THE WAY WE DEFINE OURSELVES - ATTITUDE CAN CHANGE THE WAY WE LOOK AT LIFE - ATTITUDE CAN CHANGE HOW WE LOOK AT OTHERS!

Here is one crazy video from my side 😝😜  

Belief

  I am not sure if what I am going to write in this post will make sense to many people :)

So it has been a year in a different world if I may say so. Each one of us have figured out a way to deal with life. As you all guessed it, one of my ways of dealing has been to watch/read inspirational talks/articles along with 100s of other things!  And naturally many times I have felt overwhelmed and wondered if I am overdoing it. Every time I have read an article or watched a video, I have felt that I know these things but still I felt that a constant reminder was needed. Of course no harm in that. But sometimes I have also felt that everything is useless and in the end its my mind that has to actually do the work and till it does, everything else seems meaningless.

I cannot explain how, but somehow all the things I have learnt during the last few months/years have come together beautifully and everything is making sense in a way that I am able to implement things that I am learning. 

I am finally able to understand the meaning of "everything happens for a reason", "things happen when the time is right", "patience pays", "everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be", "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade"!! And many more, but these are the significant ones for me. I never thought I could crack the last proverb - about lemons. I really wondered how could anyone make the best out of anything life throws at you. But I understand it perfectly now. 

Though I will not be able to articulate exactly what I have understood, the summary of my learnings is that we will understand certain things ONLY when the time is right, not a moment before, not a moment after. So that means having patience is our only option. And having trust! Trust in the unknown or the universe or the cosmos or God or ourselves or a friend or a family member - we can give it any name - but having trust is the only way to live life fully. 

PATIENCE and TRUST that life is our friend and will always work with us, for us and not against us!!

Hope I made sense to at least few people who are reading this 😁😁😁

Starting off my morning watching the sun rise with honey lemon water

Good Morning summer holidays :)